Gatorade to Remove Controversial Ingredient From Drinks

[1]PepsiCo‘s (NYSE:PEP[2]) Gatorade division has announced that it will alter is line of drinks to eliminate a controversial ingredient, brominated vegetable oil.

Brominated vegetable oil is a chemical used to keep the flavor of drinks from seperating out while shelved. It also is used in certain flame retardants.

PepsiCo said the change has been in the works for some time, Fox News reports[3], and was not a response to an online petition from 15-year-old Sarah Cavanaugh[4]. Cavanaugh started a petition — which has move than 206,000 signatures — on change.org [5]asking for the chemical to be removed.

On the response to her petition, Cavanaugh wrote, “Thank you all for your support. This is so, so awesome. Companies like Gatorade put so much thought into marketing. As someone who loves to drink their products, I’m so glad they’re making strides to put as much consideration into their customers’ health.”

The new Gatorade formula will begin appearing around the country during the next few months.